Thursday, January 9, 2014

Picnic opened to great fanfare last September, garnering write-ups everywhere from Gothamist to Fork in the Road. (We cut-n-paste the news release here.)

The menu from chef Nicholas Nostadt, formerly of Williamsburg's Berry Park, leaned toward American comfort food. (Cheese Ball with Roquefort!) And the space was lovingly renovated.

In any event, it appears that Picnic has closed. Several readers have noted the space has been dark the past week or so. The phone kicks into a generic voice-mail greeting after a lot of rings. There's no sign on the door or mention of a closure on their Facebook page or website.

However, one person with knowledge of the restaurant, which formerly housed the Kiev one day a long time ago, said that it was closed.

Really gorgeous space, unfortunately the menu just couldn't match it. Ended up being a hodgepodge of different dishes with no common thread. I hope whoever takes over keeps the current aesthetic but brings some needed cohesion to the menu.

I was a bit suspicious when I saw that the menu changed from dinner entrees to sandwiches. It was a large space that had zero traffic for lunch, so I'm not entirely surprised they went under. However, I loved and will miss the chicken sandwich

Back in 1978 when Kiev opened it was just a small place with about 8 seats at a counter and maybe seating for another 24 people. That was when Harry was the short order cook behind the counter and eating there was as much of a one man comedy act as it was watching a great chef satisfy the regulars with his funky style. When the owners pulled the counter to break the countermen's strike for better wages the place expanded and did even better. It's closing was inevitable as older clients died off or moved away. Bring it back? Sure but only if they can bring back the counter.

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